Why do many Christians stay spiritual infants?

Now, here's your host, Les Feldick. Good to have everybody in again, and we'll be turning right back to Colossians chapter 1. For those of you joining us on television again, we'd just like to show our appreciation, especially for your letters and your phone calls when you express how you pray for us. Naturally, we appreciate your financial help, because after all, television time does have to be paid for. But most of all, we appreciate when you write and tell us that you're studying the Word, you're enjoying it, and sharing it with others. My goodness, that's what we're here for. And this is what I want to show from the book of Colossians, how these early Christians didn't just sit on what they had gained, they shared it, they spread the Word. And that, of course, is our responsibility even today. Again, we probably should let our television audience understand that we have a free newsletter that we send out quarterly, and if you're interested in that and you are not getting it, you're not on our mailing list, you drop us a note or call us and we'll get it out to you. And rest assured, I want people to know that our newsletter is not just a means of begging for money, it's not some propaganda to fill your mailbox, but we do like to let people know what we're doing, and where we are, and our seminars, and so forth. And another thing I guess I should guarantee is that nobody sees our mailing list but ourselves. We do not share it with anybody, it is never sent out, so if you have any trepidations about that, well, you can rest assured that it goes no further than our own little office building. All right, I guess I also have to always remind people that our past programs from Genesis up to where we are now are available on a six hour long video, twelve programs in succession, and that's dubbed over into a six hour audio cassette, and been transcribed word for word into a corresponding little book. Now I always like to have people understand these books are not edited and turned around and worked over, they are just word for word from the program. So if I goof, unless Jerry can pick it up and take it out, if I goof it stays in there, I have to live with it. And that has happened a few times. I remember one time I called Philemon Onesimus an Onesimus Philemon, and I just have to grin and bear it. People will call and say what I've done, and I'll say, yeah I know, I heard about it before I left the studio, but that's the way it has to be. So anyway, we're having a lot of fun, and we are enjoying thoroughly our television audience, and I've told more than one that I think we've got the best people in the world in our classes in Oklahoma, and I think we've got the same kind of people out there on our television audience. Ok, let's get right back into the Word where we left off in our last program, and that's in Colossians chapter 1, and we'll pick up again in verse 9 where Paul is introducing a prayer that he offers continuously on behalf of these Colossi believers, but it is also appropriate for us today. This same prayer is for us, and I think it behooves us then in turn to pray for fellow believers. It's also practical, but never again forget what were these people a few years ago? Pagans, with no understanding of the Old Testament. They don't have the Old Testament, and they don't even have any of the New Testament. And so the more you think about that, the more amazing it is that here we have a group of people that the Apostle Paul can deal with on this level, and know that they knew what he was talking about. And then bring it out up into our present situation. My, it should be so much easier to teach these things today, where people have at least a cursory knowledge of the Old Testament, and they have an understanding of how Christ was born at Bethlehem, and so forth. See these people didn't have any of that, and so it really should be easier, but it isn't, because the human nature hasn't changed one iota. These people steeped in paganism were just as human as lost people are today, and it took the same power of God to bring them out of that, as it does to bring a lost person to the light even today. So Paul goes on for this cause also, because of their love and their testimony. From the day we heard it, we do not cease, or we never stop praying for you. And now here comes the Apostle's desire on behalf of these new believers, and we desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. How many professing Christians today can claim to have any of that? Not very many. And this is deep. This isn't just the stuff on the top, this is down into the deep things, to be knowledgeable of His will in wisdom and spiritual understanding. How many times have you heard people say, well it's just blind faith. No it's not blind faith. You're supposed to know what you believe. You're supposed to have an understanding of the Word, that when Paul says, if someone asks what's the hope that you have, you should be able to show them from the Word. And that's what he means by being skilled at it, and being able to turn to portions of Scripture, and let people read it. This is what God's Word says. So he says that you might be filled, that it will just control their lives, the knowledge of His will in wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now verse 10. This comes down into the nitty gritty of their everyday life, Monday through Saturday. That you might walk worthy of the Lord, in other words, a person that the Lord would not have to be ashamed of. That you might walk worthy of the Lord, but at the same time to all of the people around you be what kind of a person? Pleasing. I do not buy this stuff that a believer has to constantly be like sandpaper to the world around them. I don't think that's necessary. I don't think we have to constantly rub people the wrong way. Now we don't compromise. We're not going to go with the flow. But we don't have to be irritating those people around us. Paul never teaches that. But as we stand for the truth, we do it in a way that is pleasing to those around us. And that's what he's praying for. That you might walk worthy, pleasing to the Lord, and being fruitful in every good work. Now that's not to merit salvation remember. Salvation isn't of works. We don't work for salvation, but we work for reward. And if we're going to have reward, we're going to have to have fruit. Now that's a term that is used quite a bit in the New Testament, and I'm going to take you back, and we're going to chase a few of them down, and go all the way back to John's Gospel. John's Gospel is a portion of Scripture that I'm sure most people are fairly well acquainted with. And that's the Vine in chapter 15. John's Gospel, chapter 15, and we'll start at verse 4 honey. John's Gospel, chapter 15, and we'll just read verses 4 and 5. John's Gospel, chapter 15, verse 4 and 5. John's Gospel, chapter 15, verse 4 and 5. Abide in me, now these are the words of the Lord Himself during His earthly ministry. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except you abide in me. Now here it is, Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. You can't help it. If you have that relationship with Christ as a result of believing the Gospel, then you are positioned in Christ, and consequently you're going to be a fruit bearer. But the last part of the verse is the key, for without me, Jesus said, you can do nothing. So whatever we do, we do with His power and with His help, and the result is that we're going to bear fruit. Now let's turn on over to Romans chapter 7, where again we have the word fruit used in a different connotation. Instead of a vine and branch, we're talking about a marriage relationship. I think I used this same verse a couple of programs ago. Romans 7, verse 4. Now this of course is Paul's basic doctrine of being separated from the Law and all of its demands, and by grace then we come into a totally different relationship. Romans 7, verse 4. Romans 7, verse 4. Paul says, "...wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law..." That is basically the 10 commandments. "...by the body of the Lord:" In other words, by His death on the cross. Because when Christ died on the cross, He fulfilled all the demands of the Law. And that's what Paul is raising here. So we become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ, that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, and what's the purpose? That we should bring forth fruit. Now there's nothing sexual here, there's nothing reproductive here, this is spiritual. This is just an analogy. That the marriage relationship between a husband and a wife, the fruit of that relationship was what? Children. That's the fruit of the marriage. Now then, we're not talking about the physical marriage, that's merely an analogy. But the analogy now then is that just like the spouse who has lost their loved one, death has broken the Law that united them together, and now the surviving one is free to marry. Now that's the picture. That when we became dead to the Law because of the death of Christ, it settled it. Now we are free to be married to another. Here instead of the Law and all of its demands, we're now married to grace. The Savior, the Lord Himself, and it's all of grace that because He has satisfied the Law, and we have become dead to the Law, we are now free to be united with Him in a union that is again going to produce fruit. Now I feel the fruit here then is the fruit of a soul winner. We should be able to win lost people to Christ, whether it's your children, your grandchildren, your Sunday school kids, or whatever the case may be. This is what we should be able to show as fruit in the result of our being married to Christ. Now remember this is all just simply a spiritual fulfillment of an earthly circumstance. Now then we have yet another idea of fruit, and let's see Romans chapter 5. Now we have another teaching on fruit, and it's a Biblical concept that we're to be fruitful. How many times haven't I said it in this program? We're not saved just for a fire escape, we're not saved just from hell fire, we are saved to be fruitful. We are saved to serve, a lot of people will put it. Now let's jump into Galatians chapter 5, and Paul writes in Galatians chapter 5, and then he goes on to tell us that the flesh will lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit has to war against the flesh, because they're opposite. They're contrary one to the other, and you cannot do the things that you would. In other words you can't just drift, it's a battle. Galatians chapter 5, and if you're led of the Spirit, if you're a true believer and you love the Lord, and you love God's people, and you want the Spirit to control your life, then it's a settled fact that you're not under the Law. You don't have to worry about not stealing, and you don't have to worry about not committing adultery, because the Spirit will not lead you in that direction. Then he lists all the things of the flesh, the works of the flesh, and all the things that most people just simply take for granted today. Everybody is doing it, and what are they? Adultery, fornication, immorality in all of its forms, uncleanness, lasciviousness, those are the things of the flesh. But you come down to verse 22, and now what do we see? Fruit. Now in this particular verse it's the fruit of the Spirit, but goodness sakes, who is the Spirit working in? The believer. The fruit of the Spirit is that which comes from the believer, who is under the control of the Spirit. Now look, as the last part of verse 23 says, "...against such there is no law." Do you know what that means? There's nothing bad about any of these, none of these fruits will ever cause an upheaval in a community. They all enhance good living, and look at them. The fruit of the Spirit, that is as He works through the believers. The first word again is love, and that's what the Colossians had. They had that love, it was the fruit of the Spirit. Joy. Oh we're in a world that is frantically chasing after happiness. They never talk about joy, they're always wanting to be happy. Well I think I've put it on the program before, there's a vast difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is simply the result of your circumstances. Everything is going great, you've got money in the bank, you've got a new car in the garage, and you've got a new home to live in, your kids are all in college, and there's money in the bank, no debts facing you, boy who couldn't be happy? But it's still an empty happiness. But joy is a spiritual thing. Joy comes as a result of our peace with God. And that's why Paul says in Philippians over and over, Rejoice! Rejoice! Not because they had all these material things, they didn't. But because they had that salvation, because they were right with God, and consequently they could be joyful. So it's a fruit of the Spirit. Back to verse 22. Ephesians 2. Peace, an absence of conflict, long suffering, gentleness, you'll never see a gentle person committing murder, you'll never see a gentle person constantly aggravating everybody, it's just terms that bring a complete attitude of joy and everything in that area, whether it's a family, or whether it's in the workplace, or if it's in the community. Goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, in other words maintaining a balance, not going flip flopping from one extreme to the other. And as I've already commented, not a one of these are an attribute that somebody would say, Hey I don't want that to happen to me. Not a one of these. They are all good attributes for anybody's Christian life. Well it's fruit, it's the result then of God's working in the life of the believer. Back to Colossians chapter 1. So all of these put together is what Paul had in mind, I'm sure. What he says is that you might be fruitful in all aspects of our life, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing day by day in the knowledge of God. Now listen, every believer starts at the same level in his Christian life, whether we're 8 or 80. Every believer starts in that same level, and what is it? A babe in Christ. We all begin as babes in Christ, but just like in the physical realm, is there anything more pitiful than someone who is 40 years old and still has the mentality or the physical attributes of a 5 year old? It's pitiful. And our hearts go out to them. Oh, I can't think of anything worse, and yet that's most Christians. They've never gotten away from their infancy spiritually, and the Corinthians were that way. You know that. Let's go back. You know it's been a long time since we've been in Corinthians too, and we've got a lot of new listeners coming in every day, so for those of you who've heard all this before, bear with me. I'm doing this for the sake of new folks. Go back to I Corinthians 3. I Corinthians 3, starting at verse 1. I Corinthians 3, verse 1, and I, brethren, Paul writes, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Now they were believers, but they were still infants spiritually. They were still on milk. Verse 2. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it. And that's not the only sad part. They still weren't, however long Paul had been dealing with them. So you see, if Paul could look at our situation today, he would probably smile and say, I know, I know, I went through it, it's no different. It is so hard to get people off of the milk of the Word, and into the meat. But once you get a taste of t -bone steak, you don't ever want to go back to a baby bottle. And it's the same way here. Once you get a taste of how thrilling this is, and how it all fits from Genesis through Revelation, then you can't get enough of it. Well that's the way it's supposed to be. But that's not most Christians. Most professing Christians are just satisfied that they're saved, and they never intend to go any further. But that's the sorry part, that they're content to remain as babes and on the spiritual milk. Now back again to Colossians chapter 1. So we're to be fruitful, we're to be increasing day by day in the knowledge of God. Now when we get down to verse 15 -17, we're going to hit some of those areas that very few people have delved into with regard to the knowledge of God. But for now, let's just move on in Paul's prayer. Verse 11. Ephesians 1. He's praying that they would, or we would, be strengthened, spiritually, strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power. None of these things that I teach can be accomplished without the power of God. It's utterly impossible. You cannot become a student of the Word without the power of God. You cannot become a child of God without the power of God. And so it's an intrinsic word that means exactly what it says. That it has to have the power of God that will bring us to where God wants us to be. We've only got a couple of minutes left, so let's go a couple more statements here. In other words, I guess I should have pointed out, this is another one of those instances where Paul has 7 statements. You can pick them out yourself. You know I'm always commenting on that. Paul didn't sit there and rack his brain and think, how can I get 7 statements in here? But over and over throughout his epistles he comes out with 7 fold statements. Now that's inspiration, because 7 of course is God's perfect number. And so here again he has 7 statements, and now he goes on to verse 12. That he's giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us, all of us as believers, meet or has prepared us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. Now I'm afraid I haven't got enough time left to really bring everything out that this is doing. He is giving thanks to God the Father, who was instrumental in bringing us out of darkness, and transplanting us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, which of course is Light, Light, Light. We'll look at that a little further in our next program, because we've only got a few seconds left. But all of this was in Paul's prayer on behalf of these ex-pagan believers, who knew nothing of the past Scriptures. They knew nothing of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They knew nothing of Israel's God. They knew nothing of Christ's earthly ministry. But when Paul came in and presented the fact that one died for their sins, and rose from the dead, and they believed it, God moved in and opened their understanding. And we'll look at that in our next program. But here again he is praying all of this, and this is just as appropriate for us as it was for them. We too are to be growing in the knowledge of God day by day. This week you should know more of the Scriptures than you did last week. By this time next week you should know more than you do today. Now we're living in a time of exploding technology, and it's just mind boggling. But listen, there's just about as much to be learned in here, if we'll just put our hand to the plow as it were, and start digging for it. And the Lord will bless you for it.